Top Products, BigCommerce

​

At a glance

The top revenue-generating products in the period, ranked by total revenue. Almost every ecommerce store follows the 80/20 rule: 20% of products produce 80% of revenue. The top-N table identifies that 20%, and is the canonical input to: (a) merchandising priority (which products get hero placement), (b) inventory priority (which products must never go OOS), (c) marketing priority (which products get ad spend), (d) margin protection (which products warrant supplier negotiation), and (e) catalogue rationalisation (which products earn their shelf space).

​

Calculation

top_products = SELECT product_id, product_name,
                  SUM(order_items.line_total) AS revenue,
                  SUM(order_items.quantity) AS units_sold,
                  COUNT(DISTINCT order_id) AS orders_with_product
               FROM order_items
               JOIN orders ON orders.id = order_items.order_id
               WHERE orders.date_created IN [today - 30d, today)
                 AND orders.payment_status IN ('paid', 'captured', 'completed')
                 AND order_items.refunded = false
               GROUP BY product_id
               ORDER BY revenue DESC
               LIMIT 20

​

Worked example

1. Top 10 produce 42.4% of revenue; top 100 produce 78.5%. Classic ecommerce concentration, slightly less concentrated than the typical 80/20 (suggests a healthy long-tail catalogue), but still heavily anchored in the top tier.
2. Bestseller velocity matters more than absolute count. Garden Hose 30m at rank 1 sold 412 units (high velocity, low AOV); Patio Set Wicker at rank 2 sold 86 units (low velocity, high AOV). Both produce similar revenue, but their operational implications differ wildly:
   • Garden Hose: high-velocity SKU. Must never go OOS. Set low-stock threshold at 50+ units. Supplier lead time matters enormously.
   • Patio Set: low-velocity, high-AOV SKU. OOS less catastrophic per day, but each lost order is £444. Set higher per-product fulfilment SLA.
3. Inventory and ad spend prioritisation.
   • Aggressive low-stock thresholds for top 100: bump from default 5 to 20-50 units depending on velocity.
   • Ad spend allocation: allocate 70-80% of paid budget to top 100 SKUs (where conversion is highest and CAC most predictable).
   • Supplier negotiations: the top 100 are the leverage points for cost reductions; even 2% off COGS on the top 100 is meaningful margin.
4. Concerning movements:
   • Patio Heater Gas (-12% vs P): seasonal, patio heater demand drops as weather warms. Expected.
   • Garden Hose 15m Standard (-8% vs P): cannibalised by the larger 30m variant (+14%). Likely a category mix shift, not a real loss; merchandise the 30m as the default.
   • Patio Set Wicker (-3%): likely competitive shift; investigate competitor pricing.
5. Strong growth movements:
   • BBQ Charcoal Pro (+28%): BBQ-season tailwind. Confirm inventory; promote in seasonal email.
   • Decking Cleaner 5L (+18%): spring cleaning category. Cross-sell with other decking products.
6. Long-tail health. 4.5% from products outside the top 1,000. This is a healthy long-tail proportion, neither too dependent on bestsellers nor wasted on dead inventory. Stores below 2% long-tail proportion are highly bestseller-dependent (vulnerable); stores above 15% may be diluted with products that don’t earn their carrying cost.
7. Recommended actions:
   • Confirm top 10 inventory levels, none should be at risk of OOS in next 14 days.
   • Review competitor pricing on declining items (Patio Heater Gas, Garden Hose 15m Standard).
   • Capitalise on growth items via email + paid media campaigns on BBQ Charcoal and Decking Cleaner.
   • Quarterly catalogue rationalisation review for products in the bottom 1,000-by-revenue if they’re consuming inventory or marketing resources.

1. Read top 10; assess concentration risk.
2. Confirm inventory protection for top 100.
3. Identify movement vs prior period; investigate large changes.
4. Allocate marketing + supplier focus on the bestseller tier.
5. Periodic long-tail review for catalogue rationalisation.

​

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

​

Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard

​

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

​

Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre